Introduction: Ordinary World and Don Quixote
In the Ordinary World and Don Quixote, Miguel Cervantes masterfully blurs the lines between illusion and reality, creating a narrative where the protagonist’s fantastical perceptions intertwine with the more mundane aspects of the world around him.It happens with every literary piece that illusions are created, and then reality is shown through some characters, which although stay in the background, peep through every now and then in contrast with the outside world or other characters. It is the quality of Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes that it has surpassed all the limits set between illusions and reality. From the very first page, its hero Don Quixote creates illusions around himself to the extent that his world seems only the world of imagination and not of reality. However, there is always a fine line created by Miguel Cervantes between fiction or illusion and reality, and they both mingle at some point and then separate again when it becomes impossible to amalgamate the world of illusion with the world of reality. The world of illusion starts from his reading books about chivalry, his own imaginative power, his contrivance of a magician obstructing his path, and above all, his imaginary beloved.
Mental State, Ordinary World and Don Quixote
When the book begins, Don Quixote appears to have lost his stable state of mind. He is more attracted to books of chivalry than to human beings and reality, as the book states, “he was at leisure, gave himself up to reading books of chivalry with ardor and avidity that he almost entirely neglected the pursuit of his field sports, and even the management of his property” (Cervantes 54). This infatuation with chivalry leads him to spend a significant amount of his money, obtained from selling lands, on buying books. These books take hold of him, and whatever he reads in them, such as errands, fights, and adventures, he imagines going through them himself. This world of illusion leads him to announce that he is a “knight errant” (58) who will now edify the world. Not content with this, he names his horse, takes out his inherited armors and weapons, and sets out on expeditions. The imaginative world he has created around him, declaring himself a knight errant, soon shatters when he first comes into contact with reality at the inn. It is also mentioned in the preface that he “lost his wit” (61), often pronouncing conceits in waking hours.
Illusions, Ordinary World and Don Quixote
This first encounter between the world of illusion and the world of reality takes place at the inn. Quixote “pictures it to himself as a castle with its four turrets and pinnacles of shining silver, not forgetting that drawbridge and moat and all the belongings usually ascribed to castles of the sort” (121). However, when he sees that it is only in his imagination and nobody comes out to welcome this self-styled knight, he himself makes his way to the inn. However, he is still not back into his senses and sees the wenches as damsels and the innkeeper as the lord. Even when he is made the butt of jokes and laughter by the damsels, he carries on with his illusion, saying, “your ladyships need not fly or fear any rudeness, for that it belongs not to the order of knighthood which I profess to offer to anyone, much less to highborn maidens as your appearance proclaims you to be” (55). He does not see that he is making a mockery of himself in the real world around him. He rather considers himself a knight at arms. However, all those present at the inn also join this hilarious knight to enjoy life, and when all the characters, such as wenches and others, join the bandwagon, it seems to have become an entirely magical world removed from reality.
Dreams, Ordinary World and Don Quixote
Now he is even more hell-bent on becoming a knight and instantly makes Sancho his loyal second in command or squire. They go out on long journeys and expeditions. He advises Sancho, “There is no human history in the world,” he states, “that has not its ups and downs” (191), by which he means that they would see ups and downs, and Sancho should not mind it. Then the first of their adventures is the encounter with the windmills, following Quixote’s humorous expedition at the inn. Even after he meets a terrible failure in attacking them, he makes an excuse to Sancho that it is someone Freston who turned these creatures into windmills to defeat Don Quixote. This is very interesting, as he attacks a windmill, he even recalls his imaginary beloved, asking “her to support him in such a peril, with lance in rest and covered by his buckler, he charged at Rocinante’s fullest gallop and fell upon the first mill that stood in front of him; but as he drove his lance-point into the sail, the wind whirled it round with such force that it shivered the lance to pieces, sweeping with it horse and rider” (348), but still, he does not come to his senses. This is another illusion of his mind that somebody has turned these giants into windmills to snatch victory from him over nothing. However, he hears another dictum from his squire Sancho, who says, “there is a time to attack and a time to retreat” (241), but he does not pay heed to these wise musings and rather carries on with the stupid illusions he has created around himself. Even he has also come to the point of realization that these are windmills, and not giants turned into windmills.
Magic, Ordinary World and Don Quixote
Another important point about his illusions is that he attributes all his encounters and failed expeditions to magicians who are against him. This has become his major excuse on several occasions whenever he feels that his success is subject to several realities and that his illusions are at stake. For example, the priest of his village and his own niece have said, “but a magician who came on a cloud one night after the day your worship left this, and dismounting from a serpent that he rode he entered the room, and what he did there I know not, but after a little while he made off, flying through the roof, and left the house full of smoke; and when we went to see what he had done we saw neither book nor room” (73). She has confirmed that such things do exist and obstruct the good paths tread by human beings. As his library is walled up so that he could not read books to make his mind fly, they play with him, saying that it is the handiwork of the same forces that are against him. This further strengthens his belief that he is indeed a knight, and it is his job to rid the world of evils. This even comes to the point when he attributes his failure, as mentioned earlier, to Freston, an imaginary magician. He has still not come to the reality that it is not what he thinks but his own illusion.
Girls, Ordinary World and Don Quixote
Another great illusion that both Sancho and Quixote weave around them is the reality or existence of the lovely Dulcinea. As a squire, it is the responsibility of Sancho that he should produce the girl for his knight. However, he, as a practical person, is also aware of the fact that he cannot produce such a character that has no existence. He is found several times asking for her help, speaking to her in waking hours, or talking to her about his romance. When fighting with the Biscayan, he recalls her, saying, “O lady of my soul, Dulcinea, flower of beauty, come to the aid of this your knight, who, in fulfilling his obligations to your beauty, finds himself in this extreme peril” (392), which is an extreme form of illusion in the midst of reality. The interesting point is that he does not come out of it even at the end when he is asked by Don Gaolor to tell him about his life and country and beauty. He again says, “her name is Dulcinea, her country El Toboso, a village of La Mancha, her rank must be at least that of a princess” (103), knowing full well that she is just an illusion like so many illusions he has created through the figment of his mind. Even though it seems that Sancho is the creator of this beauty, he himself is not aware of her, as he thinks, “because neither any such name nor any such princess had ever come to his knowledge though he lived so close to El Toboso” (104).
Conclusion: Ordinary World and Don Quixote
In short, several of these illusions include the belief that he is a knight on a mission to correct the world, the existence of magical forces working against him, the presence of a beautiful lady eagerly awaiting this knight to fight against the world, and the notion that every enemy he encounters is the handiwork of some supernatural forces. Even his imagination plays a role in creating these forces, such as turning an inn into a castle and imagining the details of his beautiful Dulcinea. However, when viewed through the lens of an old literary piece, these occurrences are to be expected. If a real character is involved in excessive reading, they may suffer from delusions, psychological issues, or some form of phobia or mania. Therefore, it is not surprising that Quixote experiences such mania or phobia during that time. Secondly, when a fictional piece is written, especially one of considerable length, there must be some element of fiction or illusion against the real world to captivate readers. Cervantes likely employed this tactic to make his story more extensive and to fill the gaps with imaginary characters and illusions that challenge Quixote’s perception of reality. However, the entire world of magic or illusions built around Quixote crumbles with his eventual death and his return to sanity. It is essential to remember that Don Quixote is a work of fiction, and every piece of fiction operates within the boundaries set for literary pieces, allowing for a blend of illusions and reality. Therefore, it is not surprising that Quixote finds himself surrounded by illusions, which are essential elements of the reality presented in literary works.
Works Cited: Ordinary World and Don Quixote
De Cervantes, Miguel. Don Quixote. Lulu. com, 2016.
Relevant Questions about Ordinary World and Don Quixote
- How does the concept of the “Ordinary World and Don Quixote” in storytelling, as discussed in literature and narrative theory, compare to the adventures and experiences of the character Don Quixote in Miguel de Cervantes’ novel?
- In the context of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, how does the concept of the “Ordinary World and Don Quixote” serve as a foundation for Don Quixote’s transformative and often surreal quest in Cervantes’ work?
- How does the character of Don Quixote challenge or subvert the notion of an “Ordinary World and Don Quixote,” and what commentary does Cervantes provide on the nature of reality and illusion through Quixote’s perceptions and actions?
